Diesel engine



E. A. BURNS DIESEL ENGINE April 6, 193 7..

Filed April 16, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet l flllorney :April 6, 1937. A URN2,076,334

DIESEL ENGINE Filed April 16, 1934 4 Shaets-Sheet 2 Inventor E. A. BURNSI DIESEL ENGINE April 6,1937.

Filed April 16, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Z27ZJzr/m$ I 1' Patented Apr. 6,1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DIESEL ENGINE Earl A. Burns, LosAngeles, Calif.

Application April 16, 1934, Serial No. 720,895

2 Claims. (Cl. 123-58) My invention relates generally to Diesel en'-gines, and particularly to an opposed piston type of Diesel engine inwhich the cylinders are arranged parallel to and circumferentiallyspaced around the rotary shaft, and an important obiect of my inventionis to provide an extremely simplified engine of the type described,which has a remarkably small frontal area, the engines beingreadily'a'daptable 'to arrangement in tandem on a single shaft.

It *is also an important object of my- -invention to provide an engineof the character described having a good ratio of power toweight,thereby adapting it admirably to use in aircraft.

It is also an important obiectof my invention to provide in an engine ofthe character described means for changing the reciprocating motion ofthe piston and connecting rods to a rotating motion of the shaftswherein binding and friction are eliminated thereby taking advantage ofthe greatest possible power output of a given size of cylinder andstroke.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from areading of the following description in connection with the drawings,wherein for purposes of illustration I have shown preferred embodimentsof my invention.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional viewthrough the preferred embodiment of my invenion.

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken through Figure 1approximately on the line Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectionalview taken through Figure 1 to the right of the section line 2-2 showingthrust arms and connec-' tions to housing.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the pistons andthe adjacent cam.

Figure 5 is an elevational view of one of the connecting rods with itsguide roller.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is an elevational view of the working face of and showing thecam.

Figure 8 is a representation of the cam curvature.

Figure 9 is a transverse sectional view taken approximately on the line9--9 of Figure '7.

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 3 taken through another embodimentof the invention showing an alternative manner of arranging the thrustarms.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral I refers generally to agenerally rectangular casing which has the five sided cross sectionindicated in Figure 2, in the longitudinal center of which is mountedthe rotary shaft 6 passing through the ends of the casing as indicatedat 'l and 8.

At the left hand end of the casing 5 is the scavenger blower casing 9whichmay be made a part of the casing 5 and which includes the,

outer wall ID with the air intake opening I l and the interiorly spacedpartition I2 on either side 10 of which thetvanes 1.3 of thes'blower-crotor ll work. The blower rotor I4 is journaledon the shaft-6 and has apinion l5 which is driven by gears 16, I1 which are solid with smallpinions l8, l9 which are driven by a gear 20 and keyed 15 on the shaft 6by means of the key 2|, whereby the, blower rotor I4 is driven at aspeed relatively high with respect to the shaft 6.

At a location equally spaced from the-opposite ends of the casing 5 isthe cylinder assembly 20 which is generally designated 22 whichcomprises flve circumferentially spaced cylinders A, B, C,

D, E, respectively, each of which is open at its opposite ends and hasleading into the center thereof in a radial manner a fuel intake-23 withwhich is adapted to be connected any suitable type of fuel injector suchas the Bosch or the Hesselman. The cylinders, it will be noted, aredesignated clockwise and the shaft 6 rotates clockwise. Each of thecylinders is surrounded 30 by a water jacket 24 and of course the fuelinlet 23 passes through the water jacket as does the scavenger air inlet25 and the spent gas exhaust 26. It will be observed that the scavengerair inlet is connected by a pipe 21 to the peripheral portion of theblower casing. The exhaust 26 is connected to a suitable manifold 28.

The radially inward side of the cylinder assembly indicated by thenumeral 29 bears on a set of longitudinally spaced roller bearings 3|,32 40 which are mounted on the shaft 6.

Outward of the cylinder assembly and at either end thereof and spacedtherefrom is a cam wheel 33, 34, respectively, which is keyed asindicated at 35, 36, respectively, to the shaft 6 and also 45 locked bya set screw 31, 38, respectively. The contour of the working face of thecam is indicated in Figures 7, 8 and 9. Figure 9 is a section taken onthe line 9-9 of Figure '7 at a point intermediate the rise 39 and thedepression or hol- 5 low 40. The cam wheel is provided with equallycircumferentially spaced rises and hollows alternating, there being tworises and two hollows, thereby arranging for two power impulsestransmitted to the shaft 6 for each cylinder for each 55 revolution ofthe shaft 6, the power stroke being delivered to the down slope of therises to cause a rotation of the cam.

Each cylinder is provided with a pair of opposed pistons 42 each of,which has a wrist pin 43a (see Figure 4) pivotally connecting one end ofthe connecting rod 44a which projects outwardly from the piston and ispivotally connected at its outer end with a thrust arm 45. The pivot 46extends between the arms 41, 48 which are formed on theouter end of theconnecting rod 44 and on the pivot 46 are rotatably mounted threerotatable wheels 50 which engage the concave tracks on the face of thecam. Means for maintaining the wheels 50 in engagement with the grooves5| in the face of the cam comprises the extension 52 on the arm 41 whichcarries the roller 53 which engages the back of the track of the cam. g

The thrust arms 45 are also forked and overlap the armsrfil, 62 whichare located outside of the arms 41, 48 of the connecting rod and work onthe pivot 46. The opposite ends of the thrust arms 45 are pivoted onpins 62: mounted in the interior of the casing as shown in Figure 3, 4

A modified arrangement is shownin Figure in which the thrustarms 45a areangulated in position and carry rollers 53a which engage a suitabletrack, surface 63 on the back of the cam w fl J One of the faults of allother opposed cylinder engines known to me is the fact that when theirexhaust is uncovered before their scavenging port, the scavenging portsare also closed before their exhaust ports, thereby causing loss ofmotive power. But in my engine such a condition can be corrected simplyby changing the rises in the cam -whee1s.

With the cylinders denominated clockwise and a clockwise rotation -ofthe shaft 6, the firing order will be A, D, B, E, C, A, D, B, E,. C, or1, 4, 2, 5, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5, 3. This is for one revolution of the shaftand indicates how the power impulses of the engine are balanced.

It is obvious that on the compression stroke in a cylinder the pistonsmove toward each other and compress the air priorly introduced by theblower; and that as the compression becomes substantially at a maximumthe oil is introduced and causes the motivating explosion, orcombustion. The pistons then move outward away from each other andthrough their connecting rods and cam wheels transmit a power impulse tothe cams 33, 34 causing shaft 8 to be given rotary motion. When thepistons reach the outer limits of their travel they uncover the exhaustport and scavenging air port in the cylinder walls. The blower thenforces air into the cylinder displacing the burnt gases through theexhaust port and recharging the cylinder with a fresh charge of air.

Although I have shown and described herein preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be definitely understood that I do not desire tolimit the application of the invention thereto, and any change orchanges may be made in material and structure and arrangement of partswithin the spirit of the invention and the scope of the subjoinedclaims;

What isclaimed is: v

1. In an internal combustion engine of the type described, a rotaryshaft, a pair of axially spaced cams on said shaft, a cylinder locatedbetween said cams and having a pair of opposed pistons working thereinand operatively engaging the cams, each of saidcams having a pair ofrises' anda pair of depressions, means operatively connecting "saidpistons with said cams',"said means including connecting rods.pivoted'to the pistons and to the cy linder and riding on' the cams eachconnecting rod having roller means operatively engaging thecorresponding cam, said roller means including a plurality ofrotarywheels rolling againstthe working face'of the Icamand maintainedagainst the dowmslope ofthefcam rises duringthe power stroke of thepistons to rotate the cams. p v

2. In an internal combustion en me of thetype described, a rotary shaft,a pair 0 axially spaced cams on said' shaft, a cylinderlocated betweensaid cams and having a pair of opposed pistons working therein andoperatively engaging the cams, each of said cams having a pair of risesand a pair of depressions, means operatively conmeeting said pistonswith said cams, said means including connecting rods pivoted to thepistons and .to the cylinder and riding on the cams, each connecting rodhaving roller means operatively engaging the corresponding cam, saidroller means including a plurality of rotary wheels rolling against theworking face of the cam and maintained against the down slope of the cam

